17:1 *The Lord said to Moses, / *In Hebrew texts 17:1-13 is numbered 17:16-28.
17:2 “Speak to the Israelites and get twelve staffs from them, one from the leader of each of their ancestral tribes. Write the name of each man on his staff.
17:3 On the staff of Levi write Aaron’s name, for there must be one staff for the head of each ancestral tribe.
17:4 Place them in the tent of meeting in front of the ark of the covenant law, where I meet with you.
17:5 The staff belonging to the man I choose will sprout, and I will rid myself of this constant grumbling against you by the Israelites.”
17:6 So Moses spoke to the Israelites, and their leaders gave him twelve staffs, one for the leader of each of their ancestral tribes, and Aaron’s staff was among them.
17:7 Moses placed the staffs before the Lord in the tent of the covenant law.
17:8 The next day Moses entered the tent and saw that Aaron’s staff, which represented the tribe of Levi, had not only sprouted but had budded, blossomed and produced almonds.
17:9 Then Moses brought out all the staffs from the Lord’s presence to all the Israelites. They looked at them, and each of the leaders took his own staff.
17:10 The Lord said to Moses, “Put back Aaron’s staff in front of the ark of the covenant law, to be kept as a sign to the rebellious. This will put an end to their grumbling against me, so that they will not die.”
17:11 Moses did just as the Lord commanded him.
17:12 The Israelites said to Moses, “We will die! We are lost, we are all lost!
17:13 Anyone who even comes near the tabernacle of the Lord will die. Are we all going to die?”